Mabuni Hill rises 300 feet above the Pacific Ocean that thrashes at the remote island of Okinawa. Situated on the crest is the tree-lined Okinawa Peace Memorial Park. The most moving feature of the park is the Cornerstone of Peace, consisting of 116 concentric arcs of black granite stelae stretching 2,200 feet and into which are etched the names of over 240,000 who died here 80 years ago. They came from countries including Japan, the United States, the UK and British Commonwealth, Korea, and Taiwan. Given the tranquility of this picturesque hilltop, such a memorial seems strangely out of place. And yet, as with so many such locations scattered throughout the Western Pacific, the quietude offers a sharp contrast to the events of stunning violence and brutality it commemorates — the biggest, bloodiest, and in many ways most tragic, battle of the Pacific War.
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